


Ghost

by OnceABlueMoon



Category: One Piece
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, Family, Gen, Nefertari Vivi-centric, Perona-centric, Royalty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:13:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24095656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceABlueMoon/pseuds/OnceABlueMoon
Summary: Perona’s family follows her around like ghosts. Contrary what most people think when she says this, that does not mean she is chained by them. She is not shackled to the past, nor is she haunted by nightmares. Perona’s family follows her around like ghosts, but ghosts have never treated Perona badly.~~Once upon a time, there was a princess, who lived in a country that shone like gold underneath the sun. Her hair was as blue as the bountiful sea, her eyes as brown as fertile earth. She wore no crown, but there was not one person in her kingdom who needed to see gold to know who she was. She was beloved.It sounds like a fairy tale.
Relationships: Dracule Mihawk & Perona, Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Nefertari Vivi, Perona & Gekko Moriah, Perona & Kumashi, Perona & Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32
Collections: Women! Wanted Zine: Flash Fics





	1. Perona | Ghost of a Family

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perona’s family follows her around like ghosts. Contrary what most people think when she says this, that does not mean she is chained by them. She is not shackled to the past, nor is she haunted by nightmares. Perona’s family follows her around like ghosts, but ghosts have never treated Perona badly.

Perona’s family follows her around like ghosts. Contrary what most people think when she says this, that does not mean she is chained by them. She is not shackled to the past, nor is she haunted by nightmares. Perona’s family follows her around like ghosts, but ghosts have never treated Perona badly. Not even one day in her life. 

Perona has many parents. The ones that birthed her, who loved her very much, who fed her the devil fruit that has given her so much power. The ones that left her the fortune that kept her comfortable after their death. She doesn’t remember them, but they’re there, everywhere around her, in her clothes, in her pink hair, in her eyes and in her heart. 

There is Kumae, her childhood companion, a bear with a bear of a heart. She led him around on a leash and she loved him very much, and he was housebroken, so she likes to think he loved her too. Loving living creatures is very hard and very easy at the same time, and she never really got over that. Kumabee was a stuffed animal, shoved into her arms by Gecko once Kumae had died. She’d cried in his arms for days, and he’d suffered it for her sake. 

Oh, Gecko. His whispers are in the wind, forever following her. _A little louder, little princess. A little meaner, dear girl._ He was horrid to everyone, but never to her. Another one of her parents, someone she loved but felt indebted to. He was her father, but she could not take his charity because Perona paid for everything- and not paying felt like a crime. _Command them like the princess you are, dear child._ He’d taught her many lessons on what to do, and, she thinks, a little guiltily, even more on what never to do through his own failures. 

When she sleeps she dreams such wonderful dreams, dreams others would call night frights. Dismembered body parts, flesh meeting fabric, stitches, so many stitches as Doctor Hogback taught her to sew. Cindry rocking her to sleep and throwing her down the stairs in fits equally. Kumashi, imprisoned to stay at her side, screaming, screaming, screaming. She loves them, her strange little family. She loves them very much. 

The only ones who do not fade in the sunlight when the dawn breaks are Zoro and Mihawk. She loves them for that too.


	2. Vivi | Ghost of a Fairy Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a princess, who lived in a country that shone like gold underneath the sun. Her hair was as blue as the bountiful sea, her eyes as brown as fertile earth. She wore no crown, but there was not one person in her kingdom who needed to see gold to know who she was. She was beloved. 
> 
> It sounds like a fairy tale. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Once upon a time, there was a princess, who lived in a country that shone like gold underneath the sun. Her hair was as blue as the bountiful sea, her eyes as brown as fertile earth. She wore no crown, but there was not one person in her kingdom who needed to see gold to know who she was. She was beloved. 

It sounds like a fairy tale. 

Vivi clenches her fists, pushing them against her chest until it hurts. Her lips are quivering as she sees her friends go, sailing away into the far off distance.

Princesses, real princesses, get lessons every day. Princesses, real princesses, know that gold crowns are heavy to wear, as if they’re trying to make you bow your head. Princesses, real princesses, will do what is best for their country. 

Vivi’s people love her, but more importantly: Vivi loves her people. The tales never quite tell you that being a princess, a good princess, a real princess, takes a lot more than just being beautiful, more than just being born into the right family. It takes more than a body that can feel a pea under dozens and dozens of layers. Because a real princess can’t afford to be bruised by so little. 

Real princesses know they are a pillar for the people to rest on. They must stand tall, and straight, plant their feet in the earth and must never, ever be moved. Not unless it’s for the people. 

The Going Merry disappeared, has gone beyond the horizon Vivi can’t cross. She looks up towards the sun, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes. 

She loves Alabasta. She does. She also knows her duty. But it isn’t make-believe. She’s not playing pretend. She is a _real_ princess and trying to be a good one too. She has to face the music. 

Now, sailing off into the distance with her friends… That would’ve been a fairy tale. But Vivi’s got responsibilities. She’ll just have to make her own adventures.


End file.
